Melatonin Shifts Human Orcadian Rhythms According to a Phase-Response Curve

Bilateral electrolytic lesions in the suprachiasmatic nuclei permanently eliminated nocturnal and circadian rhythms in drinking behavior and locomotor activity of albino rats. The generation of 24-hr behavioral rhythms and the entrainment of these rhythms to the light-dark cycle of environmental illumination may be coordinated by neurons in the suprachiasmatic region of the rat brain. Destruction of the medial preoptic area had no effect on 24-hr drinking rhythms. Show more

Using 'classical' experimental protocols, a human phase-response curve (PRC) to a single 3-h bright light pulse has been established. When the light pulse was centred slightly before the time of body temperature minimum, the circadian system delayed, whilst a pulse slightly after the minimum advanced it. Maximum phase shifts were about 2 h. When light pulses over 3 successive cycles were used, larger shifts (4-7 h) were produced. It is concluded that the human PRC does not differ in principle from that found in other species, except with respect to the light intensity required. Show more